Automatic fountain.



W. G. KENDALL & O. SCHONBRT.

AUTOMATIC FOUNTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.22,1913.

1,1 10,943. Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

6; i a gu UNITED srarns rarnnr orrion.

WILLIAM G. KENDALL AND CARL SCI-IONERT, OF NETTARK, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC FOUNTAIN.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM G. KEN- DALL and CARL Sorronnnr, citizens of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fountains, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to fountains and particularly to fountains operated by atmospheric pressure.

The primary object of'our invention is the provision of a very simply constructed and easily operated fountain whereby a small stream or spout may be caused to play for a predetermined length of time by atmospheric pressure.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the fountain that it may be kept continuously playing by manually shifting the containers into which the water or other liquid used .in the fountain passes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an atmospherically operated fountain with two chambers or containers rotatable about a' central member, and so arranged that when the water or other liquid in the uppermost container or chamber has passed into the lowermost chamber the containers or chambers may be shifted to bring the full chamber or container above the empty chamber so that the operation may be again continued.

'A further object of the invention is the provision of very simple controlling means disposed at the center of rotation of the two chambers or containers, whereby the water discharged by the fountain may be carried downinto the lower container and cause the air therein to pass into the upper container or chamber forcing the water in this upper container up into the supply pipe or spout of the fountain.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a fountain constructed in accordance with our invention, the containers being shown in section but the valve therefor being in elevation. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the hub and the adjacent portions of the containers.

7 Corresponding and like parts are referred to inthe following description and indicated Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 22, 1913.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

Serial No. 786,187.

in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to these figures, 2 designates a. stand of any suitable construction and including a table top 3 and a'reservoir or basin 4. This table top is supported by legs of any suitable form, one of these legs being designated 5. The reservoir or basin 4 may be of any suitable shape, and we do not wish to limit ourselves to the particular form of the reservoir illustrated in the drawings.

Projecting from one of the legs 5 toward the axial center of the basin 4: is a fixed valve member 6. This valve member constitutes a hub upon which the water containers 7 and 8 are mounted and around which they rotate. The extremity of the valve member or hub 6, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is formed with a pair of inwardly extending ducts 9 and 10. The duct 9 has an upwardly extending branch 11, while the duct 10 has a downwardly extending branch 12. Passing transversely through the member 6, but of course not intersecting the duct 10, is an air duct 13 which is downwardly and outwardly extended and di rected.

Rotatably mounted upon the member 6, which member is tapered, is a bushing or sleeve 14 which has a tapered bore fitting over the tapered circumference of the member 6, this bushing being held in place by nuts 15 or in any other suitable manner so as to have liquidtiglit engagement with the member 6. The bushing 14L is provided at diametrically opposite points with the exteriorly screw threaded nipples 16 and 17. The nipple 16 is formed with a duct 18 extending longitudinally and opening upon the inner face of the bore of the bushing and adapted to register with either the branch of the duct 9 or with the lower end of the duct 13. This nipple 16 is also provided with a duct 19 which is adapted to register either with the branch 12 of the duct 10 or with the upper end of the air duct 13. A pipe or tube 20 is inserted in this passage or duct 19 and extends upward therefrom into the chamber or container 7 The pipe 20 discharges adjacent that portion of the container 7 diametrically opposite to the nipple 16. The nipple 17 is provided with an air duct 21 which opens at the end of the nipple and. is adapted to register with either the branch of the duct 9 or with the lower end of the duct 13 and this nipple is also provided with a duct 22 adapted to register either with the upper end of the air duct 13 or with the lower end of the branch 12 of the duct 10. This duct 22 is provided with a tube 23 which extends into the container or chamber 8 and whose discharge end isdisposed adjacent to the wall of the container at a oint diametrically opposite to the nipple 17 The containers may be of any suitable material and of any suitable form, but pref erably they are globular in form and are preferably made of glass so that the liquid therein may be readily seen. Under some circumstances, however, it is best to make these containers or chambers of opaque material and use the space for the display of advertising signs. Preferably each of the containers is formed with interiorly screwthreaded necks 24c to engage the respective nipples which are exteriorly screw-threaded. Disposed at the center of the basin i and rising vertically therethrough is a discharge pipe 25 formed, with a spray nozzle 26 at its upper end, the nozzle being so formed as to effect a vertical discharge of water which falls back intothe basin 4:- Connected to the lower end of this pipe 25 is a pipe 27 which extends downward at 28 and then centrally and enters the duct 9. Extending from the bot-tom of the fountain 1 is a pipe 29 which extends downward and outward and then centrally inward and communicates with the duct 10. This is the return flow pipe. Preferably the pipes 28 and 29 are so formed as to harmonize with the general design of the fountain andpreferably these pipes are arranged within or concealed by one of the legs 5. This leg 5 does not extend down the-whole length of the fountain but the inwardly directed portions of the pipes 28 and 29 are supported by means of a leg section 30.

The operation of this invention is as fol lows: With the parts in the posltion as shown in Fig. 1 the water discharged from the nozzle 26 will fall into the tank 4:. From thence the water will pass down through the pipe 29 to the duct 10 and from the duct 10 will pass down through the pipe 23 to the bottom of the container 8, which is assumed at this time to be the lowermost container. The water discharged through this pipe 23 will, of course, rise in this lowermost container and will force the air contained in the upper portion of this container upward through the air duct 21, through the air duct 13 in the fixed hub and through the air duct 19 in the pipe 20 to the upper portion of the upper container or chamber 7. As the air enters this upper container or chamber 7 it will 'force the water therein outward through the duct 18 and through the duct 9 into the pipe 28 and from thence up through the discharge and the chamber 8 is filled with water from the basin the fountain will stop playing, but by rotating the chambers 7 and 8 uponthe fixed hub 6 so as to bring the chamber 8, which is now filled with water, to an upper position and the empty chamber 7 to a lower positionthe' fountain will immediately start up again and will continue playing until all the water has chamber.

In the practical use of this invention, we have found that with chambers constructed to contain about five allons of liquid the fountain will play about an hour ancla half without the necessity ofreversing the position of the chambers or containers.

It is to be particularly noted that the same liquid is being constantly usedover and over again, and hence that the only loss is due to evaporation. This makes this fountain particularly useful where liquid such as perfume is being used. a

It will be seen that our invention may be embodied in a variety of difierent forms and that many modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit'of the invention.-

Having thus described our invention, What we claim is:

1. A fountain of the'character described comprising a supporting frame, a fixed hub projecting centrally from said frame, oppositely disposed containers rotatably mounted upon said hub, said hub being tapered exteriorly and being formed with a pair of longitudinally extending ducts, both extending inward from the same end of the hub, each duct extending laterally at its inner end to the circumference of the hub, said extensions being offset from each other, said hub being also formed with a transversely extending' air duct arranged at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the hub, a bushing surrounding and rotatable upon the hub and having oppositely disposed nipples engaging each with one of thecontainers, each nipple being'provided with a pair of ducts passed on the uppermost V adapted to register with the ducts of the hub, one of said ducts contained in each nipple having extending therefrom a pipe leading into the interior of the correspondmg container and discharging adjacent the opposite end of the container, a basin mounted upon the top of said frame, a vertically arranged discharge pipe disposed within the basin and extending above the same, a return pipe extending from the lower portion of the basin, a pipe communicating with one of the ducts of the fixed hub and communicating with the discharge pipe, and a pipe communicating with the other duct of the fixed hub and communicating with the return pipe of the basin.

2. A fountain of the character described comprising a supporting frame including legs and a top, a fixed hub mounted upon opposed legs of the frame, said hubs being tapered exteriorly and being formed with a pair of longitudinally extending ducts both extending inward from the same end of the hub, each duct extending laterally at its inner end to the circumference of the hub, said extensions being offset from each other, said hub being also formed with a transversely extending air duct arranged at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the hub, a bushing having a tapered interior face surrounding and rotatable upon the hub and having oppositely disposed nipples, oppositely disposed containers with which said nipples engage, each nipple being provided with a pair of ducts adapted to register with the ducts of the hub, one of said ducts contained in each nipple havin extending therefrom a pipe leading into file interior of the corresponding container and discharging adjacent the opposite end of the container, a basin mounted upon the top, a vertically arranged discharge pipe disposed within the basin and extending above the same, a return pipe extending from the lower portion of the basin, a curved member forming a part of the frame and having ducts with which the return pipe and discharge pipe communicate, a pipe communicating with one of the ducts of said curved member and with one of the ducts of the fixed hub, and a pipe communicating with the other duct of the curved member and with the other duct of the fixed hub.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. KENDALL. [L.S.] CARL SCHONERT. Witnesses:

THEO. A. BLAUVELT, PETER W. ADELUNG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

